


Proposal Mishaps

by cringeisalivelmao



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: David Rose is a bad actor, Deviates From Canon, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Hikes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29484021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cringeisalivelmao/pseuds/cringeisalivelmao
Summary: “You’re crazy, David Rose.”“You love it, Patrick Brewer.” David laughs, partially because he knows just how much he’s right.A what-if scenario, takes place just before "The Hike"
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 9
Kudos: 86





	Proposal Mishaps

This was not how this day was supposed to be going.

The rings had come in about a week earlier. This was, of course, two weeks after Patrick had been told they would arrive. He was a planner, had the spreadsheets to prove it, and this was not on the spreadsheets. Well, he thought, at least they're here now. Just as well too, because for all his planning, he was still waffling between two proposal ideas. One, he takes David to a nice restaurant, pops the rings(on second thought, probably just one of the rings) in a glass of champagne, and lets the waterworks and applause flow. Or, option number two, he could take David on a hike, the very first hike Patrick himself had gone on upon arriving at Schitt's Creek. 

He had legitimately thought his life was over at that point. Burning bridges was not a very Patrick thing to do, but he had done it. Quit his very stable job, broke up with his loving fiancée, barely a word to his parents. He still felt a pang in his heart when he thought of those moments, the people he had hurt in his mad dash to escape. Patrick, with the help of David, had been able to put out many of the fires and work on repairing the bridges, but it didn’t matter. He would carry small vestiges of that guilt for a long time.

After the small miracle that was finding a job and a place to stay in one fell swoop, the first thing Patrick did was hike Rattlesnake Point. Well, actually, the first thing Patrick did was take a nap, the crying and the panic had taken a lot out of him. But the second thing he did was hike Rattlesnake point, to try and clear his head. Simply getting out and moving his muscles was usually enough to shake the cobwebs from Patrick’s head. This presented itself in baseball, hockey, even that high school production of Hairspray because the dance moves in that final number-Patrick’s leg muscles ache from the thought of it. The trek had helped some, and continued to help him as he struggled with settling in this strange town.

The more he thought of it, the more Patrick knew the hike would be best. After his and David’s first business meeting, he had gone up there, thoroughly confused. David was cute. David was very cute. After some deep reflection, both from before him fleeing his old life and after, he was piecing together that he was… not straight. However, David, with his sweater and eyebrows and vague yet compelling business idea, had thrown Patrick for a loop. He had been using his sarcasm as a defense, but it was not working. The hike, taken almost immediately after the meeting, had helped clear his mind. It was atop the hill-Patrick could not in good conscious call it a mountain- where he realized three important things. 

He was gay.  
He liked David Rose, a lot.  
He was going to go into business with David Rose.

He is smiling at the memory, when David looks over from the steering wheel, softly smiling at him.

“What’re you thinking about?” David ventures.

“You,” Patrick answers simply.

This earns him a quizzical smile from the man he loves, and he goes back to smiling out the window, thinking It’s always you, David. Cabaret and the store are making them busy, even busier than Patrick likes, it was hard enough to find a time to make a reservation at the best place in Elmdale. Even so, he makes up his mind, halfway between Schitt’s Creek and Elmdale; he is proposing to David, soon. In an uncharacteristically impulsive thought, Patrick decides on next Friday, just before opening night. The thought fills him with a happiness he could not vocalize even if he tried.

David breaks the silence again. “Hey, so if you're not too busy thinking about me, I have an idea.”

“When has me being busy ever stopped you from interrupting me?” Patrick jokes easily. It is one of his favorite things about their relationship, the humor that spilled from almost every interaction, that they could joke with each other so warmly.

“Ha. I’ll have you know, my ideas are what have gotten us the store, so you’re welcome for that. Anyways, you know we’re going to dinner tonight.”

“I was aware, yes.” 

“And it’ll be expensive.”

Patrick rolls his eyes, replying drolly, “Sadly, I know that too.”

“And I want dessert.” David whines.

“Mmm, that is shocking.”

“So I have a plan,” David is animated now, and Patrick is slightly concerned as he starts to drive ever so erratically. “we pretend to get engaged! That way we can get a free dessert! Two free desserts! What do you think?”

Shit.

Shit shit shit. How is he supposed to answer this? Even in his state of panic, he knows that logically, this tracks. They are trying to save, for a trip that Patrick knows will turn into the honeymoon. But this isn’t right. He wants the proposal to be the first, to be special, not be muddied by whatever the hell this is. But if he says no, David will ask why. Patrick can’t answer that without giving it all away. He looks over at David, who flashes him a winning smile and his puppy dog eyes that he saves for special occasions. Wow, he really wants this cake. 

“Plus,” David adds, “why not get a little acting practice in before Cabaret next week?” 

Patrick scoffs, but he is starting to see where David is coming from. It is just an act, both he and David know that. And the chocolate cake is really good, nothing even comes close in Schitt’s Creek, and that extends to the pricing. Patrick laughs a little, and nods. 

“You’re crazy, David Rose.”

“You love it, Patrick Brewer.” David laughs, partially because he knows just how much he’s right.

The dinner goes well, pasta carbonara for David, and some sort of seafood pasta dish for Patrick. It had been a little embarrassing for Patrick, he couldn’t pronounce the words for the waiter, but David had come through and only teased him about it three times so far. David was hamming up the affection just a bit, and when Patrick looked at him with a question in his eyes, David wiggled his eyebrows and mouths acting. They talk about the store, new vendors David wants to catch. Patrick shares a story from his adolescence, when his parents took him to a spot kind of like this for his 15th birthday, and that earns a bittersweet smile from David. Patrick inwardly cusses, knowing that David and his relationship with their respective parents was very different, especially in their youth. But then David launches into another crazy story about Alexis and the Tanzanian Mafia, and the conversation moves on easily.

Well, mostly easily. Patrick is stressed about what is coming. How is he going to say anything without flubbing or saying something he doesn’t mean to let slip? After all, this is only the practice. But David doesn’t know it's a practice, just thinking it's a fun game. When he acts as the Emcee in Cabaret, he lets his emotions from real life bleed into the character. It is the only way he can be believable, and Mrs. Rose looks at him with a twinkle in her eye everytime he does. Pulling something from nothing, or much more accurately, actively concealing something already on the tip of his tongue is going to be very difficult. But he would do it. For David. Maybe he would feel better when the time came.

Patrick is eating one of the last shrimp off his plate when David softly nudges him with his foot from underneath the table. Shit. 

“We want to do this before they ask us if we want dessert. Much more believable that way.” David intones. 

Shit.

“Okay, uh, hand me one of your rings I guess?” He stumbles over his words, the nervousness has most certainly not dissipated.

David coyly slides one over, and a voice somewhere far back in Patrick’s mind says he should have brought the rings, the real golden ones, with him. He tries to shut that voice down, because what the fuck, this is not an actual proposal. Patrick’s mind runs a million miles a second, and almost on autopilot, he sinks onto one knee beside the table. People start to stare. David smiles widely, and then puts on a face of ridiculously exaggerated surprise. Looks like he wasn't the one who needed acting practice, Patrick thinks with a small smile. 

“David…” Patrick’s voice catches, and he starts again. “David, I love you. When I came to this town, I was so lost. So scared. I had no idea what I was doing, who I was.” Patrick wants to punch something. Those words he was trying to save for the actual proposal. Shit. The same voice that told him to bring the rings was back, pushing him, and Patrick just lets lose.

“In all my life, I worried I was wrong. Nothing I did seemed to fix it. You told me that wasn’t the case, but better, you showed me. You have loved me, you have broken down your walls for me, you have stood by me, you saved my parents from never actually knowing me, you… you are everything to me. I want,” Patrick catches a wetness in David’s eyes that wasn’t there before. “I want you to know that this is real.” He emphasizes the word. “I want you to know that I love you, that I will stand by you, that I will never run. David Rose, will you marry me, for real?

David’s face of badly acted surprise has quickly shifted into a very real one, full of tears. Patrick hopes he didn’t ruin it, that this wasn’t too much, that David wasn’t ready for this.

“Patrick,” an awful pause, “of course I will marry you for real.”

Patrick is up in an instant, hugging and kissing his now fiancé. Fiancé, the word feels so right in Patrick’s heart. Far in the background, there are cheers and applause, but Patrick could care less. David said yes. David said yes for real. There are tears in both of their eyes when they finally pull away. This was not how the day was supposed to go, but as they both eat the best chocolate cake and discuss the future, Patrick Brewer is more than okay with it.

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to clarify, I loved the canon proposal and would not change it for the world. This was just a fun exercise for me, my first fic! I hope you enjoyed!!


End file.
